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Phonological Awareness
 An interview with with Eileen Wynne Ball, Ph.D., co-author of Road to the Code: A Phonological Awareness Program for Young Children. From the March 2001 Education newsletter.Q: Why is phonological awareness so important? A: Phonological awareness is a natural part of becoming a fluent reader. To understand that spoken words are made of smaller (though not particularly discreet) sound units will at some point help a student increase their repertoire of strategies used when they come up against a word that they don't know. When students are aware that smaller sound units exist (in some form) in words, they can better apply their knowledge of letter-sound associations. They can map the sounds or sound clusters to the unknown cluster of written letters that, more or less, represent the word that they are trying to read (or spell). Essentially, phonological awareness helps one decode words, and decoding should be a part of one's repertoire of strategies to use when approaching unfamiliar words. Q: Why is it difficult for some children to acquire phonological awareness? A: The most common reason that I see is their lack of time with print. Most children who spend hours being read to and engaged with books will come to school with a reasonable degree of phonological awareness. Often they will have enough phonological awareness that little attention is needed for them to gleefully catch on to the reading and writing connection. This issue of exposure to print can be tricky to address because the obvious solution, as many say, is to simply be sure that children with limited exposure to print have early classroom experiences that are rich with language and literacy. Of course, this is true for all classrooms. However, can we ever provide a rich enough experience for children who haven't had much exposure to print before coming into our classrooms? Can we provide opportunities in the classroom that might help children begin to make some of the print connections earlier than if they were to discover these connections on their own? I believe there are plenty of fun, developmentally appropriate, explicit decoding and letter-naming activities that can be incorporated easily into the classroom. Q: When should early childhood educators introduce phonological awareness activities? A: It depends on the activities! Early childhood educators are very well informed about developmentally appropriate practices. Although there is an enormous amount of press on the importance of phonological awareness, I want to beg early educators not to panic in a way that permits them to put aside what they really know. Once informed about the concept that underlies this awareness, in what developmentally appropriate activities can we engage children to enhance their awareness? We mustn't close off important joyful parts basic to humans and suddenly force children to simply mimic us during phonics activities. Q: How should teachers of students with learning disabilities modify phonological awareness instruction? A: Again, it depends on the students with whom one works. If I had only one word to say, it would be RESPECT. I talk with older students about the whats and whys of what we are doing. I ask them to help me change the design of some of the activities so they are more appealing to them (yet hit the same areas I feel are necessary). We work together to build on these areas and to vary the activities. Sometimes older students who struggle with their reading and writing join me in kindergarten and first-grade classes. They are my teaching assistants during the games we play to enhance phonological awareness. I see that repetition and mnemonic devices seem to be needed to bring students to a level of automaticity, and these additional experiences seem to provide a sense of pride (and repetition!). There are many programs available that are good starting points for older students; however, early intervention will prevent an enormous amount of painful school experiences for children. Educators should ask themselves: How can I alter this activity so that the children are engaged in something developmentally appropriate and enjoying themselves?
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